Jo Dee Messina releases debut single from 'Kickstarter' album

3 years ago

Jo Dee Messina says she knows her core fans will like her new album, because "they picked every song" for the record.

The country star tells Billboard.com her next studio effort was a collaboration with her audience. She explains that she would "put little snippets of demos or live performances up on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube, and let people decide thumbs up or thumbs down." Messina says to select her new single she put the two most popular songs up to a vote, and "Peace Sign" got the nod.

She adds that fans even chose the title track to her upcoming disc - song called "Me" - which she'll honor even though she thinks it makes her sound "so conceited."

Jo Dee developed "Me" through a Kickstarter campaign, which enabled fans to play an active role in the project. She'll be releasing the album on her own Dreambound label. The singer admits it's "scary" to be putting out music without the backing of a big record company.

But she says she has "some good friends out there," and she's hoping they'll support her song. Messina adds that it feels "great" to have control over her music and career.